Eco Soundings

An almighty row is brewing in Brussels over the future of low-cost flights. The European Parliament has provocatively appointed Green Party MEP Caroline Lucas to draft its opinion on reducing airlines' contribution to climate change, and Eco Soundings can reveal that she is recommending new taxes and an emissions trading scheme that would make sure airlines cannot get away with just buying up other people's emission rights - something the industry and governments would dearly like. But before the ink has dried on her draft, six anguished airline industry heads have written to accuse her of being "misleading and unbalanced". Ms Lucas is undeterred and up for a scrap. "The airlines realise they won't be allowed to keep growing and increasing their emissions indefinitely, so they're trying to get their retaliation in first," she says.

Law unto themselves

Pennsylvania has come up with what Eco Soundings thinks is the first law specifically against "eco terrorism", and anyone who from now on so much as thinks of pulling up a GM crop or preventing someone from "participating in an activity involving animals, plants or natural resources" could get 40 years. There's even a special new offence of "risking a catastrophe", but it's unclear whether this can apply to states which, like Pennsylvania, store nuclear weapons.

Just the job, Dave

Forum for the Future, the educational charity set up by veteran greenies Jonathon Porritt and Sara Parkin, takes bright young things fresh from university and wheels them round places such as the Treasury, big business, even the Guardian, to give them an idea of the real world's take on sustainable development. This year's "scholars" may be in the odd position of having more experience in these matters than the man who will award them their degrees in a few months' time - Dave Cameron. Seriously, Dave, if you'd like to spend a month on work experience with Eco Soundings, just give us a call.

Running out of puff

Messrs Brown and Blair huff and puff about how Britain must reduce its carbon emissions, but top accountancy group Ernst & Young says that they are making it harder and harder for renewable energy developments to take off. The ace beancounters reckon India has now overtaken Britain in the renewable league table and that we are in danger of demotion. Any good news? It seems power is expected to become so expensive that micro-generation kits for homes will take off.

Miles apart

When the government last week published its new sustainability strategy for the £150bn-a-year food industry, and pledged to get the likes of Tesco and McDonald's to reduce emissions and sell more local and ethical food, nobody paid much attention, because all the initiatives proposed are voluntary. However, the report came up with some interesting facts:

1. Britain now imports more than a third of all its food;

2. Heavy lorries now whizz food 33bn miles a year around Britain;3. These lorries are empty 20% of the time, and only just over half full when officially "laden";

4. The environmental and social costs of these "food miles" is more than £9bn a year - equivalent to about 3p in the £ income tax.